Category: Traveling with Kids

My husband and I have always thought of bringing our kids to Manila Ocean Park. My toddler is already interested in animals and sea creatures. However, this trip had been postponed and rescheduled many times over. It’s been a crazy week for me and my husband due to the fact that our Yaya is on an extended vacation. So when my dad said he’d love to help us take care of the kids, we said yes, let’s finally do it. Let’s go see the sea animals this Saturday!

We decided to buy the Deep Sea Rush package (Php 590) since we wanted to make our trip short but sweet. It included the following 6 attractions:

Oceanarium
Back of the House
Jellies Exhibit
Sea Lion Show
Sharks and Rays Dry Encounter
Symphony Evening Show

We got there at 2:00 in the afternoon. We did not have a difficult time finding a parking spot because their parking area was pretty huge. When we got to the entrance, I noticed that there were plenty of large cooling fans with mist, which reminded me of the ones they had at Disneyworld Orlando. It was a pretty hot July day, and those fans sure brought me a lot of relief from the heat. The facility is pretty much PWD-friendly, so I was really glad that there was a ramp leading to the entrance- which made carrying a stroller easier for us.

A post shared by mommaganda👸🏻 (@mom_maganda) on Jul 2, 2017 at 12:36am PDT

We paid for our tickets at the counter, and the staff honored my dad’s senior discount. My toddler paid full price since he’s over two feet tall. My 2- month- old got in for free.

First, we went to the Oceanarium. They had plenty of different kinds of fish imported from other countries. Of course, my kid’s favorites were Nemo, Dory, Seastar, and Seahorse. He got a little bit scared when he saw the manta rays and the sharks, but he soon got over his fear.

A post shared by mommaganda👸🏻 (@mom_maganda) on Jul 2, 2017 at 12:34am PDT

It was almost 3:00 when we finished going through the exhibit. We took the stairs to the second floor to get to the next attraction. My husband folded the stroller and my dad carried my kid. When we got to the top, I realized that there was actually an elevator for PWDs and strollers. Anyway, we thought we had time to catch the 3:00 Sea Lion show but we decided to just go to the 5:00 one since the stadium was pretty far from where we were. We just took a snack break at one of the kiosks. We bought a nacho combo meal for Php 70 (nachos + soda), a Nestle Drumstick, and a Gatorade.

My toddler went on three moving rides which cost Php10 a token. The Pelican and the Police Car were among those rides that were working.

A post shared by mommaganda👸🏻 (@mom_maganda) on Jul 2, 2017 at 12:34am PDT

We decided to skip the Back of the House exhibit because my husband said that there really was not anything to see back there.

We continued walking after we had our snack break and went past the Trails of Antarctica (penguin exhibit + Christmas village) and the Yexel Toy Museum, which were not included in our ticket. My toddler loves the Minions, so we took a photo in front of the “Ba-bas”.

A post shared by mommaganda👸🏻 (@mom_maganda) on Jul 2, 2017 at 12:35am PDT

Next stop was the Jellies Exhibit, which was basically a dark room with mirrors and huge tanks and pillars of lighted jellyfish. The overall effect was very pretty. I did get a little dizzy probably because of the dark and also because there was not enough airconditioning or ventilation inside. I still managed to nurse my baby for the second time while I was walking through the exhibit. I don’t know how I managed to do that, but I did.

A post shared by mommaganda👸🏻 (@mom_maganda) on Jul 1, 2017 at 5:47am PDT

It was around 3:30 when we were done with the Jellies Exhibit. We then went outside to the front of the complex to see the Sharks and Rays Dry Encounter. There you can get a chance to touch the sharks and the rays. There were trained staff to assist anyone who wanted to do that. We did not touch the fish but we were able to see a shark up close, which was pretty cool.

At 4:00, I was already feeling very hot and tired. I took a bathroom break in one of the public bathrooms near North Park. It had tissue paper, which was great, but there was no soap at the sink. Good thing I brought my Human Nature Sanitizer to keep my hands clean.

We had merienda at the North Park because it had seats and airconditioning. The food and service were “meh”. No reason to come back.

My husband and toddler went to the bathroom for a diaper change and came back carrying a souvenir toy bucket filled with plastic sea creatures. It was a good deal for Php 210. I like that it’s educational and relatively cheap.

Finally, at 5:00, we went to the stadium to see the Sea Lion Show. It was cute and entertaining for the most part. The sea lions and the seals (yes, there’s a difference) performed adorable tricks such as clapping, waving, and synchronized jumping. At around 5:30, my toddler was already becoming restless so we decided that it was time to call it a day. We did not get to see the Symphony Evening Show because it was getting late and it was already starting to rain. The adults were also feeling very exhausted already.

Overall, I would give this trip a 4 out of 5.

How about you? Have you brought your children to Manila Ocean Park? How was your experience like?

Like this:

Text Widget

This is a text widget, which allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. You can use them to display text, links, images, HTML, or a combination of these. Edit them in the Widget section of the Customizer.